1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge containing a disk, which is an information recording/reproducing medium, and more particularly, to a disk cartridge capable of inhibiting an inflow of dust from the outside.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional disk cartridge 10 which contains a disk D that will be used in a disk drive device 20. The disk cartridge 10 includes upper and lower cases 11 and 12 and a shutter 13. The upper and lower cases 11 and 12 form an inner space in which the disk D is contained. The shutter 13 selectively opens and closes an opening hole 12a formed at the lower case 12 so as to allow a pickup 21 of the disk drive device 20 to access the disk D. An opening lever 22 installed in the disk drive device 20 opens and closes the shutter 13. FIGS. 2A and 2B show that as the disk cartridge 10 enters the disk drive device 20, a peg on an end of the opening lever 22 contacts and pushes a protrusion 13a of the shutter 13 to open the shutter 13.
The disk D is contained in the disk cartridge 10 to be protected from foreign matter such as dust which can hinder the accurate processing of a signal during a recording or reproducing operation. However, the shutter 13 must be opened to allow the pickup 21 of the disk drive device 20 to access the disk D. Thus, dust flows into the disk cartridge 10 through the opening hole 12a. In other words, while the disk D is kept in the disk cartridge 10 to be protected from dust, dust flown into the disk cartridge 10 through the opening hole 12a cannot be prevented when the disk cartridge 10 is inserted into the disk drive device 20. Therefore, there is a need for a way to prevent dust from entering the disk cartridge 10 through the opening hole 12a during a recording and reproducing operation.